Hardy Kiwis build cosy green camper for two-week trek across Antarctica

January 12, 2020

The team will be travelling for two weeks in a large green box.

While a lot of New Zealanders will be heading home today from summer camping trips, a hardy crew is just about to start theirs in Antarctica.

For the two-week trek across the ice, they've built a camper - of sorts.

There are no wheels on this particular campervan, as it's designed to be pulled on a sled across a frozen continent.

"The normal temperatures outside in summer range from -10C to -20C, but inside it will be a balmy 18C," Antarctica NZ CEO Sarah Williamson told 1 NEWS.

The tiny home is known as the Green Box and will soon be deployed to Scott Base in Antarctica, for two weeks on the ice.

It will towed behind piston bullies for 1000km, helping crews restock scientists out in the field in style.

"There's a long line of sleds that fall out the back, and this box will be put on some sleds for Antarctica and will make its way out across the very snowy Antarctic environment to the camp," Ms Williamson says.

Inside, there's everything you could hope for in a camping holiday for six people.

Right from the compact beds to a fold-down table, which turns into a sleeping area.

It's carefully designed, including a box that may look like a chilly bin but is actually the complete opposite.

"The snow melter simply takes water from outside, warms it up and melts it down so you have running water," Ms Williamson says.

It's a far cry from the good old days when Sir Edmund Hillary's trans-Antarctic expedition was made by tractor.

The Green Box would be a luxury out of his wildest imagination.

If it's a success, the Antarctica New Zealand prototype could be rolled out even further.

"The traverse is really important in terms of camping and gathering science from quite a distance away from Scott Base, so if we can continue to do it and support scientists in that way, then all the better," Ms Williamson says.

It heads to the ice tomorrow for a caravan trip, like no other on Earth.

SHARE ME

More Stories